Animoto takes a close look at stats behind the rise of Instagram Stories in 2019 with the release of an infographic aimed at marketers. The company that makes it easy for anyone to create professional marketing videos compiled data about the rapid growth of Instagram Stories, its effect on the social media marketing landscape, and how marketers and small businesses can stay ahead of the curve.

As of January 2019, Instagram’s daily active user count has reached 500 million users, up from 400 million users in June 2018. The broader adoption of the Stories format has created a key growth opportunity for brands to reach new prospects, drive brand awareness, and engage with current customers more effectively.

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For marketers, Stories content plays a key role in driving action. Animoto’s 2018 survey of 1,017 consumers and 501 marketers found that marketers are doubling down on sharing video on Instagram Stories and seeing results in the form of direct customer communication.

“In today’s social landscape, Instagram Stories is an undeniably powerful marketing tool. The rise to 500 million daily active users poses a unique challenge for marketers to differentiate their brand. For the team at Animoto, making sure our customers stand out on Stories and beyond is at the heart of our mission,” said Animoto co-founder & CEO, Brad Jefferson.

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Opportunity for Branded Video on Instagram Stories

Businesses are quickly catching on to the key advantage of marketing their brand with Stories. Since video is the #1 type of content consumers prefer on social, marketers are sharing their message with video on Stories.

• 74 percent of marketers post at least 2 videos on Instagram Stories a month.
• A third of the most-viewed Stories are from businesses.

The Future of Stories

Sharing stories affords a tremendous opportunity for businesses to interact with their customers, measure the impact of their marketing efforts, and apply these learnings to drive real-world results. Story ads, in particular, are helping businesses reach their target audience, and drive traffic from a brand’s Story to its website.

• 96 percent of marketers using Story ads intend to continue in the next 6 months.
• 62 percent of businesses received a direct message from a customer because of a branded Instagram Story.

What This Means For Your Business

According to Instagram, 80 percent of users visit the platform to decide whether to buy a product or service. On Stories, consumers are already active and browsing branded content daily. Eye-catching, mobile-friendly content optimized for Stories can demonstrate products or services in action and drive real-world results for your business.

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Methodology:

Animoto surveyed a representative sample of U.S. adult consumers and adult marketers at companies that have created at least 2 videos in the past year to learn about social media and video marketing practices. The web-based survey was fielded August 25, 2018 through September 5, 2018, with a sample size of 1,017 consumers 18 years or older and 501 video marketers at companies of 3 employees or larger. For the consumer survey, the margin of error was 3.1%; for the marketer survey, the margin of error was 4.4%.

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